Operation Nostalgia: Air attack on Cyprus fleet.

As HMS Biter's fighter squadron gains height, formations of German aircraft approach:

Table size = 6' x 3'9"

Scale = 1/600th

Rules = Bag The Hun 2 (GQ3 for Air attack on fleet)

Orbats:

British

8 x Grumman Martlet F4-F

4 x Sea Hurricanes IIC

German

12 x Me BF109G-6

12 x Junkers Ju-87D Stukas

British Fleet

Exeter - 8" Cruiser (Flagship)

Biter - Light Escort Carrier

Sheffield - 6" Cruiser

Dauntless - 6" Light Cruiser

Hero - Destroyer

Jervis - Destroyer

Jackal - Destroyer

Aldenham - Destroyer

Envoy - Admiralty tug

Invasion force transports:

LCT

Prince David - Landing Ship

8 x Grumman Martlets and 4 x Sea Hurricanes from HMS Biter climb up through 20,000 feet acutely aware that the German formations are not far away.

A squadron of Me109's escorting a squadron of Stuka dive bombers approach at high altitude.

Continued - 

The main body of German aircraft is spotted by the British and in response, blue section of 4 Martlets swing to the north with the aim of attacking them out of the sun. 

The main body of British Aircraft maintain their course.

The 4 Me109's of the 2nd Schwarm lead by a Top Ace pilot is spotted swinging round to the south and in response the Hurricanes of green section veer off to intercept.

Blue section has been spotted and receives the unwelcome attention of 8 Me109's.

The Sea Hurricanes turn to meet the German fighters.

The squadron of Stukas continues to keep a tight formation.

The Me109's of 2nd Schwarm are lead into a 'break turn' by their top ace Schwarmfuhrer which proves too difficult for one of their pilots (middle far right) who breaks the formation. 

The top ace pilot and section leader gets onto the tail of a hurricane with his wingman in support. He takes the opportunity of giving the hurricane a full burst but the veteran British pilot takes hard evading turns.

The German ace pilot mirrors the Hurricane's turns and fires off another burst but still the Hurricane evades successfully.

The Rottenfuhrer of the 2nd Schwarm, himself a Junior Ace, having lost his wingman finds himself lined up nicely with a Martlet. He fires off a full burst at long range shredding the Martlet which explodes. 

An overview as the Stukas turn in an attempt to avoid the British fighters. 

A closer view as 2 Martlets rapidly approaching the Stukas are intercepted by the 1st Schwarm of Me109's.

The 3rd Schwarm see blue section of Martlets lining themselves up on the Stukas and attempt to intercept them.

The Stabfuhrer (squadron leader) leading the 1st Schwarm fired a burst at long range at a Martlet from Red Section which exploded spectacularly. That was two of Red Section's Martlets suffering the same fate.

Blue Section Martlets manage to shake off the 3rd Schwarm of Me109's and plough into the formation of Stukas. Their confidence took a knock when Blue Section Leader (#5) was shot up by the rear gunner of a Stuka causing critical instrument damage. He will have to retire from the fight and make for home as quickly as he can.

Elsewhere the veteran Sea Hurricane pilot (#4 left of photo) performed a snap roll and descended a level in altitude but the German Top Ace pilot (#5) mirrored his every move. The German pilot became increasingly frustrated as he fired burst after burst of machine gun and 20mm cannon fire towards the Hurricane. Other then make a few holes in the Hurricane's fuselage it had sustained no other damage. 

In his determination to shoot down the lone Hurricane, the German Ace missed the rest of Green Section screaming towards him from a higher altitude. A sprog pilot could not believe his look as he saw the German Me109 in his sights. He fired off a burst of 20mm cannon fire plumb on target causing critical instrument damage to the German Ace's aircraft. He would have to make for home for repairs.

Having seen off the German Ace, the 3 Sea Hurricanes of Green Section quickly gained altitude and caught a lone Me109 from the same 2nd Schwarm. This time it was the leader who gained a good firing position successfully shooting down the German Aircraft. As the Me109 began to lose altitude the pilot successfully bailed out.

The Stukas of the 4th Kette successfully evaded the Martlets leaving room for the Me109's of the 3rd Schwarm to intervene. They mistimed their turn overshooting the Martlets. The section leader threw his Me109 into a tight turn but his Wingman made a hash of the manoeuvre and broke the formation (flying off into distance top right of photo). The combined Stuka formation had now been broken so each Kette (section) of 3 aircraft would be acting independently. 

A Martlet swings around (top middle) and chances a long range burst of fire into the rear of the German 3rd Schwarm's leader's Me109. His bullets strike home damaging the engine. The Me109 would now have to break off from the action and nurse his plane home hoping he can make it without complete engine failure.

There is a real danger that the Stukas will successfully evade the British fighters for their strike on the fleet. A pair of Me109's head off another Martlet from intercepting the Stukas (bottom left).

The Me109 trailing smoke in the foreground was a tough one for the British fighters. A Martlet had scored no less than 8 hits on him at close range. The German pilot was already struggling to bring the aircraft back under control from an earlier attack. With his aileron damaged under the hail of bullets he was still keeping her flying. His demise finally came when a Martlet pounced on him from behind and with more rounds pumped into the already damaged aircraft it finally gave up the battle and plunged towards the sea. 

The 2nd Schwarm leader who is a Junior Ace, locked on the tail of the Sea Hurricane Flight Leader and delivered a long burst from his 20mm cannon and machine guns. The Hurricane, spewing oil from a damaged engine, would now have to make for home. The German Ace attempted to stay on his tail but he broke away to prevent him from overtaking the damaged Hurricane and potentially placing himself in the firing line.

Another Martlet turned and in desperation, flew his plane directly into the formation of Stukas in an attempt to break them up. He misjudged it however, and collided with one of the Stukas (a double 6 was thrown!). In the subsequent test for damage the Martlet suffered catastrophic damage while the Stuka escaped with nothing other than a momentary loss of control.

The situation was now becoming serious for the British having effectively lost half their number and the Stukas still untouched.

With 2 British aircraft got on the tails of Me109's and another 2 lining up rear shots (the Hurricane on bottom right of photo being one of them), the Sprog Hurricane pilot in centre of photo was ordered to make for the Stukas.

Luck was definitely not on the British side with 3 of the German aircraft out-manoeuvring the British fighters before any shots could be made. A Martlett who was unable to get on the tail of another Me109 did find itself in an excellent firing position at close range. The pilot let fly a long burst into the tail of the Me109 to find his guns jammed leaving the German fighter unharmed!

The Stukas continue to make headway unmolested towards the British fleet although one section has broken its formation as a result of the earlier collision.

The lone Hurricane piloted by a Sprog (raw recruit to the uninitiated) flies into the mass of Stukas but struggles to get into a firing position.

A Hurricane that had been attempting to lock onto the tail of an Me109 was up against a Junior Ace pilot who, through a succession of hard turns, now locks onto the rear of the British fighter.

A Martlet who had been lining up another Me109 looked on in dismay as the German fighter spun round climbing as it did so and passed him overhead.

With the British fleet appearing in the distance the Martlets and Hurricanes were clearly being outfought by the superior training and experience of the German pilots together with a heavy dose of bad luck.

A new supply of 7mm dice arrived today so now I have enough for red altitude dice = British and blue = German. 

As the German aircraft near the fleet I have shunted the boards up. The 1st and 3rd Kette's of Stukas are now clear of the swirl of dogfights with the British ships firmly in their sights.

Elsewhere the unformed 2nd Kette, lead by an Ace pilot, begins to receive attention from a number of British fighters.

3 photos leading to the demise of a Hurricane:

The German Ace pilot who is also the Section Leader of the 3rd Me109 Schwarm, gets on the tail of a veteran Hurricane pilot. The Hurricane attempted a hard manoeuvre, a snap roll, but could not shake the German off his tail. Finally getting the best firing solution, the Ace pilot kept his finger pressed on the firing button emptying all his remaining ammo into the Hurricane. The Hurricane pilot felt his plane disintegrate around him. Miraculously he was blown clear from the ensuing explosion and his parachute successfully opened!

A Martlet piloted by the veteran Squadron leader gets on the tail of the Ace leader of the 2nd Stuka Kette. Knowing he will never out-manoeuvre the Martlet, the Stuka attempts to draw him away from the main body.

As they weave away to the south the rear gunner of the Stuka fires an accurate burst of machine gun fire at the Marlet damaging its fuel line. Its speed would now be restricted and it was susceptible to more damage.

The German Ace pilot was living up to his name momentarily breaking clear of the Martlet.

Having managed to get back on his tail the Squadron leader was determined to down the Stuka. Another long burst of his machine guns damaged the cockpit. With the continual machine gun bursts the Martlet began to run out of ammo. Frustratingly he had only managed to punch holes harmlessly in the fuselage of the Stuka. With one last burst his ammo ran out. The Stuka had survived!

The 2nd Kette begins to pay the price from its broken formation as the first Stuka to be shot down is picked off by a Martlet.

The veteran Stabfuhrer of the 1st Schwarm of Me109's gets on the tail of a Hurricane piloted by a Sprog. The Hurricane pilot has no time to react as the plane explodes under the hail of fire.

The last Hurricane still in the fray gets on the tail of a Stuka piloted by a Sprog. The first burst of 20mm cannon badly damaged the Stuka but it was still flying. A second burst saw the Stuka explode spectacularly killing the pilot.

The veteran pilot of a Martlet of Blue Section desperately tried to shake off an Me109 including performing a snap roll. A burst of fire from the German plane damaged the Martlet's wings restricting its performance. A second burst caused critical instrument damage but the Martlet was still in the air. All it could do now though would be to try and evade the Me109 before making for home.

It was now almost certain that the 1st, 3rd and 4th Kettes of Stukas had made it clear to attack the British fleet.

A wounded Martlet pilot vainly battles against an Me109 on his tail. Another burst of fire though kills the pilot outright.

One very lucky Hurricane. Having got on his tail and lined up a perfect shot, the gun on the Me109 jams. This turns out to be the final air combat action as both side's fighters disengage.

The surviving Stukas now form echelon formation preparatory to an attack on the British fleet. Those ships able to open fire at long range with no effect.

As the Stukas peal off to begin their dive, all available AA open fire from the defending ships. Despite several ships having suffered heavy damage with corresponding reductions in their AA armament, they manage to shoot 2 Stukas down with 2 more damaged. The 5 remaining Stukas target the Prince David. One bomb plunges through the deck detonating deep within the hull. This signals the end for the already heavily damaged ship and she plunges to the bottom.

The Dauntless picks up the all too few survivors. Only the HQ section and one infantry section remains of the Motorised battalion that had been embarked. The Brigade HQ also goes down with the ship.

Aside from the Prince David and losses to the 1st Army Brigade, the British lost 4 x Grumman Martlets and 2 x Sea Hurricanes in the air combat phase.

The Germans lost 2 x Me109's and 4 x Stukas.

1 damaged Martlet and a damaged Sea Hurricane landed on the Biter with the remainder flying to Cyprus.

NEXT: Allied bombing raid on the airfield at Cattavia, Rhodes.